Over the past year, the child tax credit has changed significantly. So what exactly do taxpayers need to know about the differences from last year to this year, and how will those changes affect them? What do people need to know about changes to the Child Tax Credit? On today’s episode of the Taxgirl podcast,…
Well, color me surprised. The House voted on the budget after all, and they voted up or down, rather than amending the Senate bill. The House voted “Yea” and they did so quite convincingly (257 YEA to 167 NAY). Here’s what the bill does: Income tax The tax cuts were extended – permanently – for…
Liveblogging the First Presidential Debate was so much fun that I’m signing on to live blog the Vice Presidential Debate, too. This one promises to be lots of fun. The details are as follows: Thursday, October 11, 9:00 p.m. Centre College, Danville, KY Moderator: Martha Raddatz Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent, ABC News If you’ve never…
President Obama and the First Lady managed to do something that many taxpayers haven’t yet done: they have filed their federal income tax returns for the 2011 tax year (downloads as a pdf). Like most married couples, President Obama and the First Lady file as married filing jointly. They also itemized their deductions, something that…
Last week, Vice President Joe Biden was in Milwaukee when he stopped in at Kopp’s Frozen Custard (not ice cream!) for a quick bite. After getting a cone, the vice president asked, “What do we owe ya?” The store manager replied, “Don’t worry, it’s on us. Lower our taxes and we’ll call it even.” Biden’s…
No extensions necessary for President Obama and Vice President Biden. Both have their tax returns for 2008. Here’s the scoop: President Obama and his wife reported $2.7 million in 2008, about $1.5 million less than they reported in 2007 (I guess the recession has hit everyone). A majority of their income came from royalties from…
Did you see the vice presidential debate last night? I’ll admit that I didn’t watch the whole thing. For one, the Phillies were busy taking Game 2 of their series against the Brewers (go Phillies!). But also because I’m not a big fan of political debates. Rarely do you discover anything significant because these debates…
For years, the GOP has been viewed as having a lock on the link between God and politics – and I am not claiming that to be a good thing. But maybe that’s changing – and I am not claiming that to be a good thing, either. Senator and Vice Presidential hopeful Joe Biden recently…
Oh, don’t even get me started. But there are a number of folks who are actually making a run at it this year, some expected and some, well, not. I have contacted each of the candidates several times to ask their positions on various tax issues. And a number of them responded promptly and their…
Our next presidential candidate to be featured in our series of interviews is Joe Biden, a Democrat and Delaware Senator. Here are his unedited answers to my six questions: 1. What’s the single most important tax issue facing Americans today? As I travel across this country, I see the middle class in trouble. For the…